When I think about Alabama, my mind goes to sweet tea, the song/movie "Sweet Home Alabama" and pretty Southern accents. My mind does not go straight to gorgeous beaches. But in reality, Alabama is just minutes from Florida.
My husband and I visited Pensacola, FL a few years ago and have wanted to go back. This year the home exchange website made it happen. We found a couple in Gulf Shores, AL that had a condo on the beach. It is a one bedroom, 1.5 bathroom condo that directly overlooks the Gulf of Mexico.
And they actually wanted to come to Pennsylvania which is amazing. Their trip is set for next October (we have an apartment & a house so the exchanges do not have to be simultaneous) and we are here now. We arrived today and will be staying almost three weeks.
Here are a few photos taken from the balcony:
The condo we are staying in has a lovely pool and jacuzzi which we can use:
We would never be able to afford staying here since it rents for about $3500-$4000 for three weeks during the time we are staying. Crazy!
My ultimate dream is to have a house on the Gulf of Mexico and this probably is the closest I am going to come. I cannot wait to wake up tomorrow and walk the beach. And then sit on the balcony and watch the sunset again tomorrow evening.
To save money, my husband went to the grocery store. Thankfully the condo has a full kitchen and we can make most of our meals. So far we have purchased three tanks of gas and stopped at a cheap, but clean hotel (cost was $41 with taxes!). We ate off dollar menus along the way. My guess is that we have spent about $200 so far and we still have almost a full tank of gas. My hope is to spend less than $1000 for our three week vacation and I am almost positive we can make it happen.
Most days will be spent on the beach and then perhaps with a movie (we brought our Wii so we can download movies from Netflix for free) in the evening. A few days we may venture to Pensacola but we aren't crazy vacation people where our lifestyle changes. We don't party or go on crazy spending sprees at outlets. We like to relax, read books, watch movies and just spend time together. I may spend a rainy day at a thrift store or two looking for ebay inventory but this will be as crazy as I get - ha!
How do you like to save while on vacation?
More photos later in the week.
Do I need to tell you that I had no idea where Alabama is? Or that it was by the ocean?
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful.
I love your plans.
Last time we went to Florida, I bought a ton of groceries thinking we would eat our meals at the timeshare and the husband thought we would eat out everyday.
Maybe we should of spoke first about it?
LOL
Have a great time.